Monday, September 3, 2007

Before I tell you guys about the cookies above, I’d like to answer one question made by a lovely friend of mine (too bad her blog is in Portuguese, she writes beautifully) – she asked me which are my all time favorite songs. I have been thinking of it for almost a week now and came up with the following list - which I think I’ll regret the moment I hit the “publish post” button:

Now, the food: I made these small boxes of cookies for my sister’s birthday party – she gave them away as gifts for her guests.
Everything was going well until I had to pipe the cookies onto the baking sheet. I had never seen so many deformed cookies in my entire life. They looked awful!
I baked the first batch anyway, somehow hoping they would morph into something pretty while in the oven – which of course never happened, since I’m not telekinetic.

I shaped the rest of the dough using 2 spoons. Everybody loved their little gifts and kept saying how cute they looked and how delicious they tasted and all I kept thinking was “you should have seen my face by the time I finished these…”

If you want to see some really beautiful melting moments, check the ones the sweet and talented Valentina made the other day.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Place the butter, icing sugar and zest in a bowl and beat with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and cornstarch until combined.
Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe 3cm (1in) round onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper, allowing room for spreading.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Cool on trays.

Patricia...this recipe sounds very, very good...and lime zest, love it! The cookies look great to me...I see nothing deformed about them. :-) And the little orange boxes have that Hermes vibe. So cute!

Patricia, once again you make something so mouth watering, I want to crash the birthday party to get my own little box of cookies. I love edible party favors that are made with care. Homemade is always better and it's charming when they are unique. I love that you reference Valentina who references Joy of Baking. We all get so much inspiration from each other, it's just funny when it's like three deep.

Like Belinda, I thought the boxes were Hermes style. In fact, when I first saw the photo on the page, before even reading a word, I was surprised because I thought these WERE Hermes cookies. I think the cookie shapes are fine. And send me a leftover box, please. I love, love, LOVE, lime!

It's the thought that counts, right? The way I see it is, if they look TOO perfect, they don't look homemade! All the same, they look delightful and anyone would be happy to get them in such a cheery box.

I agree, I think they turned out very well - but understand that when you are the chef... in mid creation, doubts can start to creep in. You must have been overjoyed with the guests reaction - your presentation in the orange boxes look very professional :)

Annie Lenox, how I love her. Patricia, you are too hard on yourself. Piping is a learned skill like anything else. It takes patience and perseverance. These cookies would be wonderful with a cup of really good tea.

I wish I went to birthday parties where I received a box of gorgeous cookies such as these at the end! They look divine - perfectly piped ones wouldn't look homemade. And those boxes are terribly chic!

First off, lovely! Those cookies are almost exactly my Nana's shortbread recipe + lime which must have been fantastic! I also love the boxes, they're just about as fresh as the cookies. So pretty.& Lastly, I can not believe you were a Duranie. Too much! ( I, myself was always partial to Union of the Snake, and of course, John Taylor:)

"A year of Sundays seems to have drifted right by, I could have sworn in one evening"

GOOD CALL!! I thought I was the only person willing to admit to an obsession with the Arena live versions of many of DD's songs. I think, for example, that the live Careless Memories and The Chauffeur versions are faaaar superior to the studio versions. I spent most of my teenage years obsessing over DD, watching the Arena & Sing Blue Silver videos over and over till I knew every line. Good times. I went to see DD (the original lineup) here in London 2 years ago, something I never thought I'd be able to do as a girl growing up at the tip of Africa and they sounded AMAZING. Also love "Broken Glass", on a par with the remix verison of "Little Bird" which is just addictive. Fave Smith's song has always been "Every day feels like Sunday", and as for Soft Cell it's "Say hello wave goodbye" all the way.

Antonia, you are more than invited to Jessica's next birthday party! :)

Dayna, thank you, dear! I was only 8 when I started listening to them, and I used to say I was gonna marry John Taylor when I grew up!! :)I love many of their songs, and the Arena album has a very special place in my heart, I love it all.

Terry, thank you! The light was good that morning.

Jeanne, this comment made my day! You are such a fan, just like me, yay! I have always thought that the Arena album is much better than the ones recorded in studio - I don't like live albums, but this is a huge exception. I think that the live versions don't have that sort of "metallic" tone the old studio recorded Duran Duran songs have. And the way "The 7th stranger" and "The Chaffeur" are linked in the album is just magnificent!!! My goodness, great to know I'm in such great company as far as music is concerned!xoxo

Karin, if we lived nearby I would certainly send some cookies over to your house, my dear friend.

They look beautiful to me! I make melting moments too (see my blog and under the book title Rachel's Favourite Food At Home) they are rolled, then flattened a bit with a fork before being sandwiched together with butter cream. I love them!